The I-Boat Raid, Individual CPO Withdrawal, and West Coast Bases adjustments are in play.
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IJN Report: In Pearl, six BB's are sunk. In Indo,
POW slips under the waves. POC at normal 7.
IJN Report: After spreading out my forces, looking for as much carnage as I can get, Mike elects to save the N.E. corner. I manage so-so results, sinking just a single carrier on 7 bonus shots. I do better against his surface fleet, sinking 4. In return fire, Mike's USN sink Junyo, Shoho, Hosho and Mogami.
I feel that Mike wins the turn as he saves all the northern bases pretty cheap and wins carrier attrition, 3-1.
POC at 14.
IJN Report: I concentrate on HI but place some BB's in the CS and USM to go after POC or make Mike's CV's defend. If he defends, then I get the SPO and the Marshalls. The results of this turn are simply sick. The disparity in the dice results are clear. I manage to sink the CA in the Marshalls and the MS in Hawaii. That's it. Mike sinks both BB's in the CS and USM during day actions. He also sinks Oi in the NPO and ID sinks Mikuma in the AI. It got much worse in HI. After agreeing to a night action, I line up a CA on each of his 3xBB's and pile on 6xbonus/13xnon-bonus shots on the 1st marines and 5xbonus/16xnon-bonus shots on the 2nd marines. My results? I disable away the best two BB's(NC and CO) as well as BOTH marines(1st marine w/2d and 2nd marine w/4d). The USN adds insult to injury by sinking Haruna and Fuso in return fire. Mike then runs. POC at 19.
So, I manage to take HI but the lob-sided dice really killed me. Mike's were as hot as mine were cold. I lose 4xBB's and 2xCA's in exchange for a BB and CA. The real killer is I now have two marines running around. The game has certainly taken a turn for the worst for the IJN!
IJN Report: Gee, this game is getting really tough. I have more USN CV's and marines on the board than I am used too! I need to try and build a perimeter and move the POC up as well. With a bid of 7, it would be nice to max out the POC by the end of T5, if possible. To that end, I elect to go after the USM after the LBA are placed.
The turn starts out poorly for the IJN as 2 straight night actions in Indo allows the 1st Marines to take the Phil's and lets Hermes and the rest of the Brits to sail safely back to Ceylon. In the SPO, I sink Saratoga. Saratoga and the USN LBA sink Yokosuka and disable Sasebo w/3d. Not good! In the Marshalls, I miss the patroller and am sunk in return. In HI, I disable the 2nd(4d) with Hiyo but the 24th misses the lone patroller (Quincy). I lose both the LBA and Hiyo in return fire. In a second day action, Nagato is destroyed. The I-Boat saves the day by sinking Quincy to save 3 POC. In the CS, the USN LBA sinks Suzuya. In the USM, I shoot down an LBA and sink 2xBB's in my first round. The USN sink a single CA. In the second round, a d/n, I shoot down the last LBA and sink the last BB as well to secure the area. POC to 23.
This turn is decent for the IJN. I gained 4 POC and had a 1-1 carrier exchange. I also got a 3 (All BB's) to 2 (BB/CA) surface exchange. The big downside is the marine situation along with the downfall of the Phil's. Still, I feel I am back in this game after the T3 debacle.
IJN Report: The double USN flags in the SPO and
the Marshalls really put a crimp in my basing. I would love to put some pressure
on the USM, but can't. I can hold HI pretty easily due to the USM flag so that
is nice. I want to be able to get rid of the Phil's threat, add to the POC
count, and build a perimeter for T6. In AI, I will try to sneak an NLF through
so I can control the NPO. My other NLF will head into the Mari's to invade the
Phil's.
The task gets trickier when both USN BB's, out of Guad, makes speed into the
Marshalls. However, I feel pretty good after my raiders are placed. The USN
surprises me by coming into Indo. Since his single LBA is likely to be disabled
(from the Mari's) before the battle even begins, he should lose this fight far
more than he wins it. However, dice do need to be rolled. After the LBA is
disabled from the Mari's (One round delay before Indo), the USN gets a pure
night action to blow away the Kaga. However, the I-Boat then sinks the Hornet.
Given this, my 3xLBA should still be able to win this fight against 3xUSN CV and
the 2x Brit CVL's. Then I go absolutely cold over the next 4 rounds of fire,
including a complete whiff on round 1. In the end I manage to sink Yorktown and
disable Wasp with 24 dice as the USN wins the area. In other area's, my NLF is
disabled in the AI, Kita is sunk in the NPO, NC is sunk in the Marshalls and the
charmed life of the 2nd Marines(4d) allows it to invade Lae. POC stays at 23.
A really disappointing turn as I could not hit the broad side of a barn in Indo
and I got the pleasure of seeing Lae fall to a marine that has withstood 8 bonus
and 16 non-bonus shots over 2 turns. So, yes, both marines that got out of Pearl
on T3 have taken a base. Wonderful! This game is pretty much over but I'll go on
and see if the dice will smile on me. Surely, they owe me, right?
USN Comment: here's board after round 1, awaiting I-Boat -- I was in good shape even before the phenomenal results in Marianas.
IJN Report: Things are very bad at this point. I, gulp, will rely on the dice to save me this turn. I will place 2 "dares" on the board in HI and the Mari's. In AI, I will hope to either win the pref roll or to actually get past the 4xLBA stationed there. Even if only one of them gets through, I will hold the NPO. I also will run a CVL down to the USM to try and pop the lone LBA there and save 2 POC.
As far as the "dares", the USN can't hit both of them. If he goes to HI and I get a couple of night actions, things could be very bad for him. If he goes to the Mari's, I will hope to gain a favorable CV exchange since he will need to direct some shots at my LBA. If I get lucky, the LBA could hold this area as he will not be able to direct a lot of shots at it, due to having to shoot at my carriers at the same time.
Results-Did I actually say the dice owed me??? These results were like a flashback to earlier turns. In the Mari's, my 20 bonus/3 non-bonus dice get 3 hits, sinking CV16 and Wasp while dinging CV10(1d). The USN's 16 bonus/8 non-bonus(2xCV went after my LBA) get 7/2 hits respectively, sinking Zuik, Shok, Akagi, Soryu, Hiryu and shooting down my LBA. The great USN results did not end there though as BOTH Yokosuka and Kure are sunk in AI, along with Zuiho being sunk after if whiffed against the USM LBA. The last remaining IJN carrier, Ryujo, is sunk on round 2 in the Mari's after it crippled Monterey. POC down to 18.
Not even sure why I should continue at this point...
USN Comment: If there is dice "oweship," I'll go back to my 1 for 72 (for 1 damage) dice vs your LBA in the HI last WBC :-)
GM Comment: Just be wary of collecting on all of your good karma in a single game!
IJN Report: Only because it was a T10 game did I continue this one. I need to get a marine through to DH so I can swing 2 POC. I also need to flag JI and HI. I don't have the resources to do this but I will try. I go with the minimum to hold JI. That really only leaves my surface fleet for HI. While it probably will not hold, I need some incredible dice to decimate the USN fleet and have any chance on T8.
Unfortunately, I hardly catch a break on this turn. The AI is again a day action and again my NLF is removed. In the NPO, the F-Boat finishes off the Taiho after it was damaged during a day action. The Taiho whiffed against the LBA in its shots. In JI, The flag holds just barely long enough (Day, then D/N) for me to win the area. In the crucial Hawaii sea area, the even pref roll favors Mike for 3 straight pure day actions. Enough damage is done there that I decide to pack this game in. POC would end at +7 IJN after T7.
Overall game thoughts-Just a miserable game to suffer through. To have such a disparity in dice fortunes for pretty much an entire game is disheartening. That it would happen in the championship match for this T10 is unfortunate. You play 8 matches to get to this point, only to have this happen? I won't lie; it kinda stinks. My aspirations for this game was for fairly even dice and to have a great strategy game against Mike. Mike is certainly one of the great players in this game. A person has to be at their best to beat him. Mike played his normal strong game and took advantage of the breaks given him. Congratulations Mike!